Sutter Lakeside Hospital donates to Terrace Middle School girls club

LAKEPORT &GT;&GT; Sutter Lakeside has made a $500 donation to the Terrace Middle School "Girls On the Move" Running Club.

The donation will allow the running club to purchase running shoes for the sixth- through eighth-grade girls who participate in the program.

Ingrid Larsen, Terrace Middle School counselor and the organizer for Girls On the Move, said, "Girls On the Run is a national program that we initially looked into, but it cost close to $10,000 to start. I pitched the general idea to our group of educators, administrators and psychologists and they said 'We can do this. We work with kids all day long.'"

The school has worked with similar programs in the past.

"We want to teach the girls some valuable skills about self-image and nutrition instead of just the physical part of running," Larsen continued. "We came up with about six or seven lessons that we thought were important. Every lesson has a different focus and a different speaker on subjects ranging from skin care to yoga to personal safety. We want these girls to feel confident about themselves regardless of their fitness level, and we want them to be cognizant of their surroundings so that they can stay safe. We're hoping that through these mentor speakers, we can spark some motivation."

Chief Administrative Officer for Sutter Lakeside Hospital Siri Nelson said, "What we really liked about the Girls On the Move program was how closely it aligns with our own mission to improve the health of Lake County. We particularly appreciated that this club focuses on establishing fantastic fitness habits at a young age."

The Girls On the Move Running Club meets Tuesdays and Thursdays after school. Tuesday's practice begin with a 10 to 15 minute lesson and then the girls will exercise together, while Thursday's practice will focus on training for an end-of-season 5-K race.

There is no minimum GPA requirement to join and all sixth- through eighth-grade girls from Terrace Middle School are encouraged to participate.

"Terrace has had a Running Club before, and some of the kids would show up wearing shoes that just weren't made for running. We're so excited by this donation from Sutter Lakeside. Now we'll be able to offer new equipment to our club," Larsen said.